During the Beat Generation, women began their long journey to finding their independence, identity, and their sexual freedom. Many Beat novels depicted women as either objects or women were treated with complete indifference. In terms of being an object during that time period, women had the pressure from the expected societal norm of becoming a housewife or just becoming another woman for sexual gratification. However, every woman has a different story or pathway to finding our who she is as, not an object, but rather a human being just like their male counterparts, defying society in the process. These characters from Beat generation novels ultimately reflect the experiences and challenges, developing their identities instead of just what society stereotypically expects. In Jack Kerouac’s On the Road,
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When Sal meets her on a bus for the first time, he falls for her almost immediately by her beauty. Once arriving at their final destination, Sal conjures up the idea that the two should travel and live their lives together in New York where he brings up another girl while she is still in the room. Terry stands up for herself defensively when she does not want to be told about “that six-foot red head ain’t a Madame, ‘cause I know a madam when I hear about one, and you, you’re just a pimp like all the rest I meet, everyone’s a pimp” (Kerouac 77). Terry’s instincts cause her justifiable response to Sal’s namedropping. She does not want Sal to only use her much like her ex-husband. Because of her abusive past, Terry keeps her trust in who she shares her feelings and body with close to her. As a general note, Terry’s decision to take her child away from her abusive ex-husband is uncharacteristic for the time period because women were expected to maintain their status as a housewife who only cooked, cleaned, and took care of the husband and children. She displayed a
When Sal meets her on a bus for the first time, he falls for her almost immediately by her beauty. Once arriving at their final destination, Sal conjures up the idea that the two should travel and live their lives together in New York where he brings up another girl while she is still in the room. Terry stands up for herself defensively when she does not want to be told about “that six-foot red head ain’t a Madame, ‘cause I know a madam when I hear about one, and you, you’re just a pimp like all the rest I meet, everyone’s a pimp” (Kerouac 77). Terry’s instincts cause her justifiable response to Sal’s namedropping. She does not want Sal to only use her much like her ex-husband. Because of her abusive past, Terry keeps her trust in who she shares her feelings and body with close to her. As a general note, Terry’s decision to take her child away from her abusive ex-husband is uncharacteristic for the time period because women were expected to maintain their status as a housewife who only cooked, cleaned, and took care of the husband and children. She displayed a